Margaret
Sanger was a nurse who started the movement that led to the legalization
of contraception in the United States, opened the first birth
control clinic in America, and founded what would become Planned
Parenthood. At the turn of the 20th century, women had little
rights in America - they couldn't vote and they had little say
about their own bodies. It was illegal to even talk about contraception.
Margaret Sanger felt that in order for women to have a chance
to become equals in society, they had to have a say in when they
would have children. Despite being arrested many times for her
work, Margaret Sanger dedicated her life to educating the public
about contraception and lobbying for national legislation to legalize
it. She also traveled and lectured about contraception throughout
Europe and Asia and in 1952 helped to establish the International
Planned Parenthood Federation, serving as its first president
until 1959. Margaret Sanger's dedication to finding more effective
and affordable contraception helped pave the way for the discovery
of the birth control pill in the 1950s. In 1965, the Supreme Court
declared that contraception for married couples in America was
legal; Margaret Sanger died the next year. The famous writer and
futurist H.G. Wells recognized the importance of Margaret Sanger's
work in helping to create a better world when he wrote in 1931:
"The movement she started will grow to be, a hundred years from
now, the most influential of all time."
